MSNBC, a corporate news outlet known for its left-leaning commentary, is reportedly offering pay cuts to anchors Joy Reid and Stephanie Ruhle as part of cost-cutting measures amidst declining viewership and financial strain.
According to the New York Post, the network has been negotiating lower salaries with Reid, who currently earns about $3 million annually for her 8 PM show, and Ruhle, who earns $2 million for hosting The 11th Hour at 11 PM on weeknights.
These moves come on the heels of MSNBC cutting Rachel Maddow’s salary from $30 million to $25 million annually. The network is also reportedly negotiating reduced pay for a newly-added Morning Joe host. Both Reid and Ruhle are known for their vocal criticism of Republicans and President-elect Donald Trump, with Reid previously hosting a psychiatrist who suggested cutting off family members over Trump’s election.
MSNBC has experienced significant declines in viewership, particularly for hosts like Reid and the Morning Joe team, Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski. Reid also recently left X (formerly Twitter), criticizing Elon Musk’s ownership and the election results. Despite these issues, MSNBC declined to comment on its staffing or financial challenges, as layoffs loom and Comcast considers spinning off the network.
Last month, Reid, known for her far-left commentary, joined the exodus of progressives leaving the social media platform X following President Trump’s recent victory.
While the account for her MSNBC program, The ReidOut, remains active, Reid’s personal account has been deactivated. In a video statement, she shared her rationale for departing the platform, aligning with a growing trend among leftist figures distancing themselves from X.
“Today I finally did something I’ve been meaning to do for a while,” she said in the clip posted to TikTok. “The reason for doing it, and kissing goodbye [to] my 1.9 million followers, is because I haven’t been posting for a long time. I just didn’t want to be contributing content once it was purchased by its present owner.”
“Every so often, I would use it to just look at news that was trending and what’s happening and I would just use it as an aggregator, but I just realized that’s not really worth it,” she added. “Because in order to do the news aggregation and just look at all, you have to wade through a lot of dreck and just abuse and a lot of negativity, and it’s just not worth it.”
